


Fallen Wings

by TrickstersLittleHelper



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grooming, Reader-Insert, Wing Grooming, Wingfic, Wings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-02 00:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6542173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrickstersLittleHelper/pseuds/TrickstersLittleHelper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an argument Lucifer finally shows the reader his wings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fallen Wings

When you had asked to see his wings this wasn't what you had expected. You had always assumed that an angels wings would be glorious, magnificent things of light and energy, something pure and holy. 

What spread from Lucifer's back and out across the library floor were none of that.   
Each one of the six enormous wings were bent and twisted at odd angles, like they had been broken and healed countless times without ever being set and the feathers were the dull, dead color of volcanic ash.

Seeing Lucifer like this broke your heart, but at least now you understood why he had been so reluctant to do this in the first place. In face he had only given in after you had gotten in to a particularly nasty argument over it.

Carefully, and with no small amount of guilt, you reached out and touched Lucifer's bare shoulder. He had insisted on you staying behind him, and the defiant glare he had shot you when he tugged his shirt off had left no room for an argument. As he winced under your touch a fresh pang of remorse found it's way in to your heart.

“Can I touch them?” your voice carried none of the loud rage from earlier. The rage that had accused him of being a vain, selfish creature who didn't trust you. Lucifer's small nod of acquiescence took you by surprise as did the almost convulsive shudder that wracked the angels body when you moved your hand from his shoulder and on to his top-most wing.

You yanked your hand away and started stammering out an apology that only became more and more unintelligible as you noticed the sudden movement had caused some of the feathers to fall out. You even had a dry, dead piece of one caught under one of the rings you wore, while the rest of the feather stuck out at an odd angle after having gotten snagged and pulled by your frightened movement.

A self-derisive snort was enough to stop your babbling. “It's fine.” Lucifer told you while slowly shaking his head. “You didn't hurt me.”

“But your feathers and...?” you trailed off, not sure how to describe his reaction to your touch without wounding his pride even more than you already had this day.

“It's just been a while since anyone touched my wings, that's all.” Lucifer said with a shrug you could only assume was meant to seem indifferent. The slight quiver and quiet tone of his voice told another story though, and it was only after he took a deep, calming breath and seemed to force the agitated stiffness out of the mangled limbs that you dared to put your hand back on them.

The two of you sat in silence as you explored the ruins of what had once been the pride and joy of Heaven. As you found more and more knots and jagged lumps in the wings it became harder and harder to hold back your tears, and for every tangled mass of dead, half-decayed feathers that came loose under your gentle touch you rubbed soothing circles on the angles back, although who you were trying to calm neither of you could say.

It wasn't until you reached the scapula of one of the large middle wings that you let out a startled gasp. By now your tears were flowing freely but quietly from seeing the devastation before you, but what you saw now filled you with the warm sensation of hope. Under the dry and brittle downs covering the muscles of the wings and part of Lucifer's back there were tiny, healthy feathers sparkling like fresh fallen snow in moonlight. You brushed a few more clumps of dry downs loose, and revealed a few more healthy ones underneath.

“Don't move!” you told him as you stumbled to your feet and wiped the tears from your eyes. “I'll be right back!” You were in such a hurry that you didn't even notice the quizzical look Lucifer was giving you as you rushed out of the library.

You were only gone a few minutes, but when you got back Lucifer had managed to maneuver himself and his wings around so he was facing you. He was giving the bowl of water and towels you were carrying a cold, suspicious look. You were silently grateful that he couldn't see the soft brush you had stuck in your back pocket.

“You're not going to magically fix them with some warm water and fuzzy feelings.” the acidic scorn in the angels voice was enough to have you fighting to hold back your tears again, and apparently Lucifer noticed cause his expression softened as he motioned you over, and held the bowl as you sat down next to him.

“I know that, but I still want to do something for you.” you could feel the heat rising in your cheeks, and unable to meet his eyes you moved the bowl of water to your other side and then focused on getting the towel properly wet and wrung out.

You were staring at the wings, trying to figure out how and where to start when Lucifer lowered them in to your reach. They twitched and jerked until he had them arranged so that the wrist of his top left wing was roughly at eye level with you and the leading edge forming a semi-circle around you.

You could feel Lucifer's eyes on your back, watching your every movement as you quietly wiped away what must have been centuries, if not millennia, of grime that were caked on top of and in between the feathers.  
It was a slow process, but as you got rid of the top layer of dirt and were able to properly discern the damage that had been done to Lucifer he seemed to relax. His breathing sounded calmer, the wings that were curled around you seemed less stiff, and the knife-sharp gaze on your back felt a little less intense. You on the other hand felt anything but calm as you ran a trembling hand across the sight in front of you. At first you had thought the long primaries had simply broken during the long period of neglect Lucifer had subjected them to. But the black, charred trailing edge of the white wings made it obvious that they had burned. You swallowed heavily as your trembling hand searched for at least one healthy, undamaged feather. The best you could find was a charred remnant of a primary, barely the length of your lower arm, and that fell to the floor like so many others as soon as you tried to rub the soot away from it.   
Most of the others followed suit, and at Lucifer's request you removed the few stubborn ones that insisted on clinging to their former glory. 

You couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when you eventually moved behind Lucifer. Not only because that meant you only had the shoulders of each pair left, but also because it meant you didn't need to pretend you didn't notice every sharp inhale and muffled sob that escaped his lips when you pulled loose a damaged feather. You had tried to apologize and promised to be gentler, but he had brushed it off, simply saying that it was necessary, and that they would eventually grow back in. You knew his pride wouldn't allow any other reaction, but it was more than a little distressing to have to cause someone you cared about such pain.

“Almost done.” you murmured as you retrieved the small, soft brush from your pocket and began to remove the few remaining traces of betrayal and destruction from your angel. You took your time with this, carefully brushing away the dry layer of down, then gently washing and grooming the sparkling layer that had been hiding beneath, and finally massaging each shoulder.

It was when you were finally done with his wings that Lucifer did something entirely unexpected. You had intended to massage his neck, but Lucifer had simply reached up and put his large hands on top of your slender ones and gently trapped them there.

“Thank you.” he whispered, and when he leaned back against you and nuzzled against the nook of your neck you noticed a faint glistening in Lucifer's eyes. You didn't mention it, seeing him vulnerable was rare enough as it was, and you knew he'd close back up and shut you out if you brought it to attention. So instead you wiggled your hands free from his and wrapped your arms around his waist, just holding on to him for as long as he'd let you.


End file.
